Since 2010, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) has set official poverty reduction targets and emphasized the importance of a well-functioning social assistance system in continued poverty reduction.
... Exibir mais + However, despite the efforts in expanding coverage of the social protection system, the pace of poverty reduction in Indonesia has slowed significantly in recent years, while both chronic poverty and vulnerability have persisted. Moreover, income inequality is on the rise, while access to opportunities remain unequal. This report reassesses the strengths and weaknesses of Indonesia’s main social assistance programs, and proposes feasible reform options, both program-by-program and for the social assistance system as a whole. This 2017 updated report seeks to provide evidence of the progress made between 2011 and 2017, together with relevant benchmarks for future reforms and policy planning. The review presents analytical evidence on salient program features and issues, and proposes additional efforts and options toward a truly integrated system.
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Since 2010, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) has set official poverty reduction targets and emphasized the importance of a well-functioning social assistance system in continued poverty reduction.
... Exibir mais + However, despite the efforts in expanding coverage of the social protection system, the pace of poverty reduction in Indonesia has slowed significantly in recent years, while both chronic poverty and vulnerability have persisted. Moreover, income inequality is on the rise, while access to opportunities remain unequal. This report reassesses the strengths and weaknesses of Indonesia’s main social assistance programs, and proposes feasible reform options, both program-by-program and for the social assistance system as a whole. This 2017 updated report seeks to provide evidence of the progress made between 2011 and 2017, together with relevant benchmarks for future reforms and policy planning. The review presents analytical evidence on salient program features and issues, and proposes additional efforts and options toward a truly integrated system.
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Development and humanitarian actors currently engaged in Somalia face the challenge of delivering assistance in such a way that it is supportive of peace and state building, addresses the acute vulnerability, and dependence of large shares of the population while operating in a still insecure and changing environment.
... Exibir mais + Forced displacement is a key feature of the current political economy context of Somalia. The necessity of addressing displacement is partly due to the scale and duration of the phenomenon. Displacement dynamics have fundamentally reshaped Somali culture in multiple ways. The purpose of this study is to inform the Bank and other development and humanitarian actors on the scale, characteristics, and political economy dimensions of displacement in Somalia. The study was undertaken between February and June 2013 by a team from the Tana Copenhagen. The conceptual framework for the study was based on one for political economy assessments. In this context the report presents, introduction; history, causes, and characteristics of displacement in Somalia; current internally displaced person (IDP) situation; prospects for return; vulnerabilities and development needs of the displaced; political economy challenges; and development for IDPs - recommendations.
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The Bulgarian labor market has suffered from the economic crisis, and cyclical unemployment has turned into structural unemployment. The labor market crisis is amplified by demographic change as the young and skilled labor force emigrates, aggravating a skills mismatch.
... Exibir mais + Vulnerable groups are served by up to five different agencies, depending on the type of services required: the (1) public employment service; (2) social assistance agency; (3) national security institute; (4) ministry of education; and (5) national and territorial expert medical commissions. Cooperation between the labor offices, the social assistance directorates and municipalities is focused mainly on administrative functions and rule enforcement, rather than on labor market inclusion and promotion. This report reviews the design and implementation of activation policies for social assistance recipients and other highly disadvantaged groups in Bulgaria. The report starts by providing an overview of recent labor market trends, including the impact of the economic crisis on the labor market, in general, and on vulnerable groups, in particular. Chapter two describes and analyses the institutional setting for the design and implementation of Bulgaria's activation strategy and policies, as well as institutional capacity and cooperation between institutions. Chapter three analyses the impact of the benefit system on activation. Chapter four reviews the activation process and the implementation of the mutual obligation principle and the targeting of services provided to disadvantaged groups. Chapter five reviews active labor market programs and investigates to what extent these programs are targeted towards disadvantaged groups, which types of programs are prioritized, as well as reviewing the development of funding for active measures and programs.
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Non-compliance with regulations by enterprises is said to be rife in developing countries. Yet there is limited systematic evidence of the magnitude of non-compliance at the enterprise level.
... Exibir mais + Making innovative use of two complementary data sources, non-compliance for India's Factories Act has been quantified without the question of illegality ever being raised directly with enterprises. It is found that more than twice as many firms are not complying as are complying. Further, the number of non-compliant firms is much larger than the number of firms adjusting out of the regulation. Thus non-compliance with the Factories is a key feature of the "missing middle" in India. The main trends and patterns of non-compliance are explored herein and key issues for further analytical and policy research are highlighted.
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This report presents the results of a highly simplified profiling exercise to demonstrate the initial steps of profiling and draw some initial conclusions on the types of clients that might be covered by activation policies in Turkey, and the extent of their socio-economic vulnerability as well as labor market employability.
... Exibir mais + A key conclusion is that policy makers will need to decide whether to put the emphasis on the former or on the latter so that the dual objectives of protecting the vulnerable and helping them move out of transfer dependence are achieved. The initial profiling exercise shows that several large subgroups of the vulnerable comprise inactive females, often with limited or outdated skills. A priority might be to rethink the offer of public services involved in up-skilling the workforce, such as lifelong learning, in order to mobilize the largest identified segments. This Executive Summary reflects on four connected background papers. A conceptual framework first defines vulnerability and activation policies. A second background paper takes stock of the progress of activation policies in Turkey to date. A third background paper profiles the large and diverse group of vulnerable people in Turkey into units of higher or lower priority, while the final background paper examines how the capacity and skills of the vulnerable, especially those in the high priority units, can be built.
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This report presents the results of a highly simplified profiling exercise to demonstrate the initial steps of profiling and draw some initial conclusions on the types of clients that might be covered by activation policies in Turkey, and the extent of their socio-economic vulnerability as well as labor market employability.
... Exibir mais + A key conclusion is that policy makers will need to decide whether to put the emphasis on the former or on the latter so that the dual objectives of protecting the vulnerable and helping them move out of transfer dependence are achieved. The initial profiling exercise shows that several large subgroups of the vulnerable comprise inactive females, often with limited or outdated skills. A priority might be to rethink the offer of public services involved in up-skilling the workforce, such as lifelong learning, in order to mobilize the largest identified segments. This Executive Summary reflects on four connected background papers. A conceptual framework first defines vulnerability and activation policies. A second background paper takes stock of the progress of activation policies in Turkey to date. A third background paper profiles the large and diverse group of vulnerable people in Turkey into units of higher or lower priority, while the final background paper examines how the capacity and skills of the vulnerable, especially those in the high priority units, can be built.
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Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is the most prevalent form of gender inequality. More than one third of the women in the world have experienced some form of gender based violence.
... Exibir mais + The impacts of such violence extend far beyond the individual survivors, affecting households and communities, and spanning across generations. SGBV is widely recognized as a development constraint that falls within the World Bank's mandate. This report is an effort to take stock of the experience of the World Bank in addressing SGBV, from 2008 to 2013, in order to capture lessons for engaging more strategically on this issue across the Bank portfolio. The report elaborates on the prevalence of SGBV, the methodology adopted for the purpose of this review, an overview of World Bank activities for SGBV, lessons learned, addressing SGBV in design and implementation, cross-cutting and operational lessons, conclusions and recommendations.
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Although the recent market turmoil has been driven primarily by external factors, it has magnified India's macroeconomic vulnerabilities. India was just one of a large number of emerging market economies whose currency and capital account were adversely affected by a large outflow of portfolio investment this summer.
... Exibir mais + The current downturn presents an opportunity to push ahead with critical reforms. The current situation is unlikely to place an insurmountable stress on the economy, but it does offer an opportunity for measures to strengthen the business environment, attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and increase productivity. The rupee depreciated sharply in May-August 2013, mainly caused by market fears of an early end to the Federal Reserve's stimulus program. As global investors shifted funds into US treasuries, the May-August fall in the rupee closely mirrored movements in other emerging market currencies and US T-bonds. The current account deficit moderated and exports performance improved. After reaching a record high of 6.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter FY2013, the current account deficit improved to 3.6 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter. The decline in poverty has accelerated, but vulnerability remains high. Between 2005 and 2012, India lifted 137 million people out of poverty and reduced the poverty headcount (at the national poverty line) to 22 percent of the population. The depreciation in the rupee is unlikely to have major adverse effects and provides an opportunity to accelerate growth through further progress on the reform agenda. Financing of the gap is expected to come in roughly equal parts from FDI and institutional flows in FY2014, with a growing contribution from FDI in FY2015.
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Growth in any economy comes from (i) growth in inputs of production; (ii) improvements in the efficiency of allocation of inputs across economic activities; and (iii) innovation that creates new products, devises new uses for existing products, and increases the efficiency of input use.
... Exibir mais + Analysis of sources of economic growth finds that the biggest differences between developed and developing economies are in innovation performances. Innovation is critical for economic growth, but it also becomes increasingly important for addressing major development challenges, such as the ones related to inclusion and sustainability. Recognizing this pattern, many countries are attempting to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Market and government failures and other bottlenecks impede innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in developing countries. These countries need to build the capacity to find, absorb, and use new technologies and processes as well as foster entrepreneurs who can take risks, look for finance, and bring new products and processes to market. The most important source of innovation in developing countries involves the adaptation of technologies and processes that exist elsewhere but may be new to the country or firm. However, innovation can also come from local efforts, with many low- and middle-income countries becoming important sources of incremental innovation. Given its global role, developmental mandate, and combination of public and private sector expertise, the World Bank Group is uniquely positioned to play an important role in helping countries build their innovation capabilities. The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) identified an investment portfolio of $18.7 billion in innovation and entrepreneurship interventions over the past decade across the World Bank Group. IEG found that this investment is substantial, but its effectiveness can be enhanced through broad, systemic efforts on a set of complementary actions. At the corporate level, the Bank Group has to articulate a clear vision of how innovation will be used to solve major development problems and how this vision can be transformed into workable solutions. Given the rapidly changing development context, urgent action is required to enhance coordination, consultation, or linkages on innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across networks, sectors, and regions, as well as across the Bank Group institutions. Another challenge is to develop practical solutions for people who earn less than $2 a day. This is not a low-income country agenda but one that is also relevant for middle-income countries with large segments of their population living in poverty. Sustained efforts are required to experiment with different mechanisms and implementation arrangements. Also important are monitoring and evaluation systems to facilitate scale-up of promising interventions and mechanisms to effectively capture and share knowledge from operations within and across the Bank.
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As developing economies continue to mature and enter the next phase of reforms, labor market issues and key policy instruments such as the minimum wage increasingly come to the forefront.
... Exibir mais + Increased globalization and wider competition compel countries to make labor markets more flexible so as not to hurt competitiveness. At the same time, policymakers face pressure to rethink labor market regulations (and social safety nets) to avoid disadvantaging workers, especially the most vulnerable who are more prone to employment insecurity. Evidence of the impact of minimum wage policies in the East Asian context and in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, more specifically remains very limited. A thorough literature search identified only a few rigorous studies of the impact of minimum wages on important welfare outcomes in ASEAN countries, and some of the evidence was narrowly focused on one sector and period or from a time when the institutional setup and management of the policy was different from today. Given the relevance of the minimum wage policy in ASEAN economies, which are experiencing rapid economic growth accompanied by rising income inequality and persistent poverty among unskilled workers, having this evidence seems critical. The objective of this report is to contribute to the ongoing (and renewed) debate on the use of minimum wage policy as a tool for addressing various socioeconomic issues. It assumes minimum wages will remain in place, and the analysis seeks to address knowledge gaps on the policy's effects on worker outcomes and firm performance in order to provide guidance to policymakers in ASEAN countries (and similar contexts) on how to best manage the policy. This report consists of seven chapters and is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on the minimum wage policy, its historical evolution, and the current institutional context across ASEAN countries. Part two delves into the socio-economic impacts of the minimum wage policy on workers, households, firms, the economy, and the ASEAN region. Part three links the findings from each country to the ASEAN regional context and brings all the analysis together into a policy and operational discussion.
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The objective of this assessment is to respond to the government's call for analytical work to guide the development of an improved social protection system.
... Exibir mais + Its goal is to help the government to put the social protection policy into action and to provide an analytic underpinning for the social protection pillar of the Agenda for Prosperity. The basis of the assessment is provided by the concept of social risk management (SRM), which was developed by the World Bank in the early 2000s, and the assessment uses the lifecycle (or life-course) analysis. Chapter one discusses the main risks facing families in Sierra Leone and the conceptual framework of this assessment. Chapter two identifies the country's main vulnerable groups, discusses the principal risks faced by these groups and by households in general, and estimates the number of individuals or households that are at risk. Chapter three reviews the principal programs that are already in place to address the risks that have been identified. Chapter four assesses the adequacy of the social protection system by analyzing: spending; program coverage, gaps, and overlaps; benefit generosity; targeting mechanisms and beneficiary incidence; cost-effectiveness; monitoring and evaluation; and institutional arrangements and participation. Chapter five contains recommendations. The complexity of building social protection systems should not be underestimated. It entails many different actors, preferences, programs, policies, instruments, institutions, and financing, and it often involves difficult trade-offs. The pace at which any social protection system is developed must therefore be in line with the country's institutional and financial conditions and capabilities.
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Civil society in Yemen is vibrant and diverse but highly fragmented. It includes independent registered and organized civic groups, less organized local self-help organizations, and charity oriented groups.
... Exibir mais + The first period, from 1950 to 1963, saw a growth in associational activity in the modern enclave of late colonial Aden and within the protectorates of the northern imamate amidst heavy immigration and modernization. A second stage of development took place in the late 1970s and 1980s with very little central control but exceptional affluence thanks to remittances from citizens employed in the Gulf. As the political transition in Yemen continues, there is renewed interest in engaging local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the process of service delivery, decentralization, institution building and in encouraging inclusion and greater citizen participation. The Government has requested that the World Bank update its earlier work on CSOs in Yemen to map and to assess the capacities of present-day, development-oriented CSOs in five governorates. Nearly all of the CSOs that participated in this study were formally registered, non-governmental organizations that were generally independent of tribal or religious affiliation. There is an important opening in Yemen at present to encourage greater social accountability among CSOs and through CSO-Government partnerships. Social accountability includes a growing emphasis on beneficiary engagement in monitoring and assessing government performance as well as service providers, particularly in providing feedback on, and voicing demand for, improved service delivery. Based on this study's findings, it is recommended that the Government reform CSOs-related procedures, including registration, re-licensing, and decentralize avenues for CSO-ministry collaboration on service delivery and standards development to the governorate-level branches of the respective Ministries. Finally, it is recommended that training be made available for Yemeni journalists that cover the work of the country's civic sector or development issues in general.
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Addressing youth issues is essential to promoting stability and preventing violence in fragile and conflict-affected states. However, there is little evidence that youth programming and policies have helped reduce violence in these settings.
... Exibir mais + This can reflect the lack of understanding about youth issues and how problems affecting them encourage their participation in violence. This study set out to understand youth violence in Liberia and Sierra Leone, two countries in which there has historically been a great deal of youth participation in group violence, where the risk of youth mobilization into violence persists, and where interpersonal and gender-based violence are still a concern. In addition to having young populations, both countries have governments that have emphasized improving youths' lives by both reducing poverty and preventing violence. In turn, programming and policies in these (and many other conflict-affected) countries tend to be focused on employment generation due to the assumption that youth become prone to violent behavior as the result of economic exclusion (their inability to achieve a stable source of livelihood). The findings from this study will be useful to help governments (particularly of fragile and conflict-affected states) and donors better understand youth issues, design more effective interventions to address youth violence, and promote longer-term stability. The report begins with a review of literature on existing theories of youth exclusion and drivers of youth violence, with a greater focus on history of violence in West Africa. It proceeds with an outline of the study methodology for data collection, sample selection, and analysis. The analysis follows, highlighting key findings. The report concludes with recommendations for policies and youth programming.
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Civil society in Yemen is vibrant and diverse but highly fragmented. It includes independent registered and organized civic groups, less organized local self-help organizations, and charity oriented groups.
... Exibir mais + The first period, from 1950 to 1963, saw a growth in associational activity in the modern enclave of late colonial Aden and within the protectorates of the northern imamate amidst heavy immigration and modernization. A second stage of development took place in the late 1970s and 1980s with very little central control but exceptional affluence thanks to remittances from citizens employed in the Gulf. As the political transition in Yemen continues, there is renewed interest in engaging local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the process of service delivery, decentralization, institution building and in encouraging inclusion and greater citizen participation. The Government has requested that the World Bank update its earlier work on CSOs in Yemen to map and to assess the capacities of present-day, development-oriented CSOs in five governorates. Nearly all of the CSOs that participated in this study were formally registered, non-governmental organizations that were generally independent of tribal or religious affiliation. There is an important opening in Yemen at present to encourage greater social accountability among CSOs and through CSO-Government partnerships. Social accountability includes a growing emphasis on beneficiary engagement in monitoring and assessing government performance as well as service providers, particularly in providing feedback on, and voicing demand for, improved service delivery. Based on this study's findings, it is recommended that the Government reform CSOs-related procedures, including registration, re-licensing, and decentralize avenues for CSO-ministry collaboration on service delivery and standards development to the governorate-level branches of the respective Ministries. Finally, it is recommended that training be made available for Yemeni journalists that cover the work of the country's civic sector or development issues in general.
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Kenya has experienced a decade of relatively strong economic growth. Between 2000 and 2009, economic growth in Kenya averaged 3.7 percent. However, growth declined sharply in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the violence following the December 2007 presidential elections, of the global food, fuel, and financial crisis, and of the drought that occurred after the fourth consecutive year.
... Exibir mais + This persistent poverty and vulnerability highlights the fact that social protection has an important role to play in the effort to reduce poverty and vulnerability and promote human capital development in Kenya. The Government of Kenya has only recently (June 2011) developed a national social protection policy. This policy builds on the Constitution of Kenya (2010) which includes in its bill of rights the right for every person to social security and binds the state to provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependents. However, there has also been a growing trend towards cash transfers to the extent that the majority of government financing to safety nets has been spent on cash transfers in recent years. As a result, the coverage of cash transfer programmes has grown significantly but remains low in comparison with the population in need. This paper is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction; chapter two gives strategic relevance; chapter three deals with technical soundness; chapter four focuses on institutional arrangements; chapter five presents budget process and expenditure framework; chapter six presents results framework; chapter seven focuses on economic justification; chapter eight gives inputs to the programme action plan; chapter nine gives technical risk rating; and chapter ten gives inputs to the programme implementation support plan.
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Authors investigate the size of returns to capital and the determinants of capital accumulation in microenterprises (MEs) in a developing country context.
... Exibir mais + Marginal returns to capital are found to be well above market interest rates at low levels of capital, but decrease rapidly at higher levels. This hints at credit market constraints as a potential obstacle to the graduation of these firms. The empirical part uses panel data for Peru where MEs employ the majority of the work force. While author's analysis of capital accumulation in MEs suggests that credit constraints are indeed a major growth obstacle, we also emphasize the role of risk. Household non-business wealth in conjunction with risk and risk aversion had sizable effects on capital accumulation in MEs. The findings of this paper can serve as a basis for the promotion of combined credit and risk management devices to enhance private sector development.
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The rest of this report: (i) looks at the dynamics of poverty in Zambia and at which aspects of poverty can realistically be addressed by transfer programs; (ii) examines the fiscal space available for funding safety net programs; (iii) analyzes the effectiveness of existing programs and of potential new program choices; (iv) assesses what role productive transfer programs might play in Zambias long-term development strategy and the trade-offs with other poverty-reducing public investments; and (v) makes some specific suggestions for future programming and for strengthening existing efforts.
... Exibir mais + The report examines the ways in which the government currently spends money to provide direct transfers to Zambian households (as well as some options used elsewhere but not currently in Zambia) to assess which are the most cost-effective for accelerating poverty reduction. In this report, the term safety nets is used to refer to non-contributory transfer programs, generally targeted in some manner to the poor and vulnerable. Safety net programs are meant both to catch those falling downward economically before they become destitute and to provide assistance or a minimum income to the permanently poor.5 The best of them can enable households to make a permanent transition out of poverty by helping them to build their human capital or increase the returns to their labor, either on the farm or off it. The programs examined include agriculture-related transfers, targeted unconditional cash transfers, in-kind transfers, and school feeding, programs supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), and public works employment-based programs.
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The Voice, Choice and Decision (VCD): a study of local governance processes in Cambodia (VCD1) study, conducted in 2011, led to a set of useful insights into the channels through which citizens are heard in commune level decision-making.
... Exibir mais + It presented the formal and informal framework for, and constraints to, citizens' voicing issues, and the overall downward accountability framework of commune and sangkats in Cambodia. The findings of this exploration provide policy makers, development partners and other stakeholders significantly more detail and in-depth understanding of commune decision-making processes and the engagement of citizens, informing both quantitative studies and the very extensive literature on decentralization reform. Voice, Choice and Decision: local basic service delivery: (VCD2) aims to generate better understanding of the platform for citizen and user voice in basic service delivery by considering, in detail, the nature, scope and role of local agents (committees, institutions, individuals) established to implement sector policies, and to identify any other informal channels for the voice of citizens and users of services. In its final form, the study focuses on developing an understanding of voice and accountability in three sectors, health, education and rural water supply. The research and documentation adopted a common framework to the extent possible, considering, in the first instance, what was intended by policy (the arena, organizations, roles and relationships), and comparing this with the reality on the ground in each of the sectors. This final paper then considers the cross cutting themes, identifying the commonalities and differences between these sectors.
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